1664-1666. Yellow route: To Florence by way of Paris
In September 1664 Niels Steensen left Copenhagen again and arrived two months later in Paris. He was the guest of the prominent French academician, Melchisédech Thévenot, and met the French intelligentsia. In Paris Steensen held his famous lecture on the…
1672-74. Red route: No prophet is accepted in his home town.
In 1672 the Danish crown again contacted Niels Steensen. Since the Reformation Denmark had had draconian laws prohibiting Catholicism. These laws had now been relaxed somewhat and the influential privy counselor Peder Griffenfeld urged King Christian V to summon Steensen…
Priest, bishop, beatus
After a return to Copenhagen Niels Stensen went abroad again in September 1664, first to Paris, and then on to Florence. We know that he discussed Catholicism with a Jesuit in Cologne. In Paris he visited Hedvig Margarete von Rantzau,…
Niels Steensen’s spirituality
By August Ziggelaar SJ Niels Stensen is famous not only for his scientific discoveries, but also for his spirituality. Born into Lutheran orthodoxy, Stensen converted to Roman Catholicism, became a priest, and in 1988 was beatified by Blessed Pope John…
